Get Started Looking for Family

Like everyone else, you have two sides to your family -your father’s side and your mother’s side. In my case, I knew all about my mother’s people as far back as to the point where they entered this country. I knew that my great-grandparents were fishermen in Palermo, Sicily and that they came here as adults seeking a better way of life.

My father’s side, however, was a mystery. No one knew too much about them, in particular, my father’s father. My dad’s father died young and his father had died after being shot during a holdup. He was a police officer and no one knew too much about him. My grandfather had two full blooded siblings and, after his mother re-married, two half-brothers. That was all we knew about him.

My paternal grandmother also had mysterious roots. Her father left the family when she was young and her mother married another man. She had three siblings and the other man ended up to be a good husband and father to my great grandmother. I can remember my great grandmother and the stories that she told. She died when I was 12 and she said that her people came from the Mayflower, which I do not know to be true. My father is not even sure of where her people came from, but heard somewhere that they were English mixed with Scotch blood.
Like you, I had many choices when I decided to get started. As I knew so much about my mom’s side of the family, I decided to find out about my dad’s side of the family. I knew my grandmother, grandfather and both my great-grandmothers from this side of the family, but no one seems to remember the name of my father’s paternal grandmother (her first name) although my dad is pretty sure that he knew her married name. It was very murky and I as I like a challenge, this was the side of the family that I decided to focus on. The side where no one knew where anyone came from, had trouble finding out names and had no idea how my great grandfather on this side ended up dying (I found out the information through my search).
As it turns out, this was the side of the family where one of the “Untouchables” hailed from. It was an interesting journey to discover this for my father and to be able to tell him that he was related to someone who made somewhat of a mark in history in Chicago. The funny thing is that we were all from the east and ended up in Chicago some 35 years ago. As was my dad’s second cousin, who helped bring down Al Capone.